Goldberg & Rosen Partner, Zachary Bodenheimer, Wins $750,000.00 for Local South Dade Man Injured at Redland Market Village
This was a hotly contested premise liability case which was litigated by a top insurance defense firm. The case proceeded to trial because the Defendant refused to offer more than $15,000.00 to settle the Plaintiff’s serious injury claim.
The Plaintiff, Mr. Johnson was an elderly man who broke his ankle attempting to enter through a large hole in a barbed wire fence that was made to allow customers to enter into the flea market. The flea market was on notice that customers were entering through this hole, but they failed to do anything to remedy the situation. On the day of the fall, Mr. Johnson arrived at the flea market looking to buy some clothes for his wife who was dying of cancer. When he arrived, the gates were closed so neighborhood visitors were entering through the hole in the fence. As Mr. Johnson attempted to navigate through the structure, he fell and broke his ankle.
At trial, the flea market called the local preacher to testify against Mr. Johnson; however, on cross-examination, Zac exposed that the preacher was actually getting free publicity and free booth rental at the flea market. Another witness against the Plaintiff was a police officer who coincidentally earned more money as a security guard for the flea market than he did at serving our community. Zac also exposed several lies in the testimony of the flea market’s corporate representative including the flea market’s hours of operation; how many others had walked through that same hole in the fence; and why the flea market failed to allocate any funds towards fixing the fence.
At the end of the day, the jury was fed up with the lies of the defense and awarded a fair and just verdict of $750,000.00- every penny that our firm requested in closing argument for the injured Plaintiff. Justice has been served, and now Elijah Johnson will have the resources to take care of his dying wife.